Keir Starmer has said Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor should give evidence to the US Congress about his association with Jeffrey Epstein, as the latest tranche of files on the disgraced financier was made public.
Speaking in Japan after meeting prime minister Sanae Takaichi, Starmer said Epstein's victims must be the priority. Asked if Andrew should apologise, he said that was a matter for Andrew, but anyone with information should share it. "You can't be victim-centred if you're not prepared to do that," he said.
The newly released documents, issued by the US justice department on Friday, reportedly include a photograph appearing to show Andrew crouching over a woman on the floor, and emails suggesting he invited Epstein to Buckingham Palace in September 2010, two years after Epstein's conviction for soliciting girls as young as 14.
The files also suggest Epstein proposed a dinner with a 26-year-old Russian woman, to which Andrew reportedly replied he would be "delighted". Andrew has previously said he ended his friendship with Epstein in person, but emails show a dinner was held in his honour at Epstein's New York home, with guests including Woody Allen and George Stephanopoulos. Andrew paid a reported £12m settlement to Virginia Giuffre in 2022 without admitting liability.
The documents also include reference to an email from Andrew to Ghislaine Maxwell in 2005, in which he wrote "I am in your hands (literally) until Saturday/Sunday" and signed off "Love you A xxx". Epstein died by suicide in 2019. Andrew and his former wife Sarah Ferguson have been ostracised from royal circles. The files also show Epstein sent £10,000 to Reinaldo Avila da Silva.
